Your Monday Morning Roundup

After a 1:35 rain delay, the St. Louis Cardinals exploded for a season-high 15 hits against Jake Arrieta on Friday, including five RBIs from Jose Martinez, en route to a 12-4 dominant win. Arrieta only went three innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks to go with a lone strikeout.

The Phils almost blew a two-run lead Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals scored at least one run in four consecutive innings. Down a run, Scott Kingery hit his first career triple before Jorge Alfaro slammed a pinch-hit single to score Kingery for the game-winning run in a 7-6 win. Odubel Herrera hit a two-run homer to extend his on-base streak to 45 games, even though he reached base on the third strike in his final at-bat in the ninth. But Zach Eflin struggled, going 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four.

But a rookie stymied the Phillies yesterday afternoon. Jack Flaherty threw 7 2/3 innings and struck out 13 batters in 120 pitches, giving up two hits and a run in the process in a 5-1 win over the Phils. That run was a Rhys Hoskins solo home run.

Aaron Nola was meh after heating up in his last few starts. He gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings and struck out six. Odubel Herrera’s on-base streak ended as he went 0-for-4, including a ninth inning battle with Jordan Hicks, who threw two pitches at 105 mph with all five coming at above 102 mph.

The Sixers have among the best trade bait in the NBA, boasting two first and three second round picks next season as well as a bevy of young players under team control. Perhaps Minnesota would want to take a chance that a change of scenery to a smaller media market could help Markelle Fultz? Would Dario Saric be an alluring enough part of a trade package? Aside from perhaps the Celtics themselves, Philadelphia has the most to offer in a trade this offseason.

And getting in on Towns may be necessary — if for no other reason than to keep him out of Boston.

As the team prepares for the draft, Oklahoma’s Trae Young knows the team is interested in him. Meanwhile, Miami’s Lonnie Walker IV, a Reading High School alum, said his interview went well with the team:

Walker said the excitement of being interviewed by Brand, the former Sixer who is now the general manager of the Sixers’ G League affiliate Delaware Blue Coats, was a result of never envisioning it. He’s confident in his abilities and worked hard to become a draft prospect, but the 19-year-old said that he “felt like a little kid” and that he was “in Disneyland” to experience something he’s been dreaming about his whole life.

“You dream about this,” he said, “but not too many people get to do it, and it’s a blessing. I thank God every day and my father for continuously pressuring me and making me work hard.”

While he didn’t come out and say it, meeting with the Sixers probably had a special meaning for Walker for a different reason.

“I didn’t watch basketball growing up. So if you want to say I’m a Sixers fan, I was a fan for all NBA teams,” he said. “I didn’t really have a certain team or specific team I watched. But growing up, Allen Iverson was my favorite player. So it definitely was the Sixers if you are asking.”

Recapping Richaun Holmes‘ season, which ended up being a not-so-good one with Amir Johnson getting the majority of the backup center minutes.

A post shared by Louis Riddick (@louis.riddick) on May 17, 2018 at 6:10pm PDT

Despite a switch to wide receiver last year, former college quarterback Greg Ward is still learning his new position:

“Last year was a big year for me. Just learning a new position, learning football period, learning from Alshon (Jeffery), Torrey (Smith) and Nelson (Agholor), it was a very important year for me.

“Just gathering every bit of information I could watching those guys practice and watching them in games and then learning how to apply what you’ve learned to your game.”

Ward never did get a chance to play, but he said he felt himself getting better as the year went along.

“Everybody wants to play,” said Ward, who led Houston to a Peach Bowl win over No. 9 Florida State in Atlanta at the end of his junior year.

“You’re a competitor, that’s why we all do this. But I was humbled and thankful just to be on a Super Bowl team. Just to be in the NFL period. Some guys aren’t able to play football at all. I’m just grateful to be on a football team.

“But this is not the end of my story. I am going to get out there and I am going to play.”

The secondary ticket market for Birds games is starting to warm up. Let our friends at Ticket IQ help you out.

The Phantoms began their Eastern Conference Final series with the Toronto Marlies with two straight losses. Game 3 is Wednesday night.

Who are some left wingers the team could target in this year’s NHL Draft?

The Union crushed Real Salt Lake with a 4-1 win at home for their second straight win. They’re back in action Saturday in New Jersey against the Red Bulls.

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Chris is a senior at Syracuse University studying Broadcast & Digital Journalism and the video coordinator for the men's lacrosse team. He has covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7 and for KYW Newsradio 1060 the last couple of years. He’s also a Managing Editor for College Crosse, a college lacrosse website.

3 Comments

OTAs does not mean football is right around the corner. Stop with that. It’s May. The season doesn’t start for another 4 months. And Brady missing OTAs isn’t a big deal either so we can stop with the “Eagles ended the Patriots” tweets. A 40 year old Brady doesnt need OTAs. Relax.